Half of the children born in 2007 will live to be 107 years old in the “100-year life era”.

Increase in the number of patients with cardiovascular diseases

With the aging of the population, the number of patients with cardiovascular diseases is expected to increase. For example, some estimates that the number of new cases of heart failure will reach as many as 350,000 in 2030. For a sustainable society with “the 100-year life era,” we believe that early detection, early treatment, and preventive measures are crucial in terms of reducing national medical expenses and nursing care expenses as well as improving the quality of individual life.

Possibility to reduce 1 trillion yen in social costs

If we could detect strokes early at home and achieve prompt treatment, we calculated that we would be able to reduce social costs which include medical expenses, nursing care expenses, and amount of labor opportunity loss by individuals and companies, by approximately 1 trillion yen, which is about 7.5 billion US dollars. Moreover, if myocardial infarctions, drowning, trips, and falls could be added to the system, it would be able to reduce up to 3 trillion yen, which is approximately 23 billion, in the social costs.

79% of strokes occur at home

Among cardiovascular diseases, strokes afflict about 300,000 people per year, leaving 60% of the patients with permanent damage. There is an effective treatment called tPA (Tissue Plasminogen Activator) therapy for strokes, but as it has a condition of administration within 4.5 hours of the onset of a stroke, not all patients can receive this treatment. Based on the time required for treatment and emergency transport, the onset of the disease must be detected early, within 2 hours. The location of onset is reported to be at home in 79% of cases.